A sports writer and a stats geek take their measure of Troy Murphy this week. Working from different perspectives, they both come away with the same conclusions: Murphy's underrated, well, except for his defense; he'll be missed by Indiana and the 6'11" power forward is a great fit for his hometown Nets.
Kelly Dwyer has been ranking players by position all week at Yahoo's Ball Don't Lie blog and in his listing of power forwards, Murphy ranks 13th (up from 26th last season). He notes, "Murphy's shooting gifts and rebounding acumen (10.2 caroms a game last year in just 32 minutes per contest) will act as a perfect fit in New Jersey this season". Dwyer does have some fun with Murphy's defense: The ranking features pictures of six PF's shooting over, dunking or generally taking advantage of our guy.
Fleshing out that feeling with stats, Ian Levy of Wages of Wins Journal reports Murphy was "among the most productive front court players in the league last season," producing 13.7 of the Pacers' 32 wins. Levy notes that his 28.1% defensive rebounding rate over the past three seasons is surpassed by only Carlos Boozer, Dwight Howard, Joel Przybilla and Marcus Camby.
- Ranking the power forwards, 20 through 11 - Kelly Dwyer - Ball Don't Lie
- Once Again the Pacers are Hoping Players Get Better - Ian Levy - Wages of Wins
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Ball Don't Lie's Kelly Dwyer Pokes Fun At Former Pacer Troy Murphy, Before Giving Him His Due - Ian Levy - Indy Cornrows